Among the Missing
by L. Elizabeth1
Summary: To protect her village, Sakura has become a missing nin. Now she must make friends with those she once thought of as enemies to survive and keep her village from being destroyed.
1. A Mission

Sakura Haruno had become much more than the teary eyed little girl she had been at twelve. Under the pressure of having such amazing team mates, she had to push herself farther than she ever thought she would be willing to go. After Naruto had gone with Jiraya to train again and of course with Sasuke still being in the clutches of Orochimaru, Sakura had trained her well shaped butt off to play catch up.

Sakura had trained with Tsunade and learned everything from medical jutsu to her insane strength, and then she had gone to her original sensei, Kakashi. She became an obsessive study, spending every waking moment pushing her self farther.

Sakura's sweat dripped down her brow and she pulled herself to the next foothold.

"Almost there." She ground out as she inched up the cliff, one hand tied behind her back. Finally, with one giant thrust, she landed on top of the cliff, beating her record time. She grinned and broke the tie holding her arm.

"Sakura Haruno?" An ANBU had appeared beside her. She nodded. "Lady Hokage requests for you to come to Hokage tower immediately." He disappeared in a puff of smoke and Sakura narrowed her eyes.

Tsunade hadn't spoken since Sakura arrived; she had marched around the room angrily for a few moments, and then sat heavily with a sigh.

"We have a problem." Tsunade finally growled out. Sakura stood patently, waiting for an explanation. "A spy for Orochimaru managed to sneak into the secret files of the Uchiha clan. With Sasuke gone, there wasn't anyone there to make sure they were safe. In two days time, the spy will meet Orochimaru's spies in a small village outside of Cloud. I need you to kill him in six hours, and bring the files back here. No one can know that you are there; it wouldn't look good for a Leaf nin to be killing people in a village in Lightning country. I chose you because you aren't as well known as my other top class ninja, and you have worked hard and proven yourself capable of completing this mission. But this isn't a piece of pie, if you were to be spotted for any reason, I would have to deny any knowledge of sending you there and pronounce you a missing nin."

"If I get caught, then I can't come back. Is that what you're saying?" Sakura let the reality of the mission hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Choose carefully." Tsunade's eyes softened slightly.

"If I am seen as a missing nin, I could perhaps infiltrate higher threats to this village, like Orochimaru, or the Akatsuki. This is an opportunity to eliminate our enemies." Sakura thought of the possibilities of becoming a missing nin. She could finally be the one protecting the village. She would finally be the strong one.

"I am not asking for you to go on such a deep mission, just for you to become a ghost for a few hours and kill this one guy."

"I understand Lady Hokage. I accept the mission." Sakura bowed and left the room quickly to prepare for her mission. She had six hours to get to a place three days away and kill a man she only had a picture of. Not precisely an easy venture.

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The Leader flickered before Itachi, his red eyes glowing in the dark cave where Itachi was resting after a particularly difficult mission.

"I have a new assignment for you." The Leader's voice echoed. Itachi stared impassively at the flickering figure. "There is a spy, from Orochimaru, who stole secret documents belonging to the Uchiha clan. My sources say he is in Lightning country, and he is going to hand the documents over to Orochimaru there. Your mission is to kill the spy and retrieve the documents."

"Why are these documents so important?" Itachi asked monotone.

"They detail special jutsus known only by the Uchiha clan, Orochimaru must not be allowed to learn them."

"He has Saskue, couldn't he just learn the jutsus from him? Also, how do you know what documents were stolen and by whom?"

"Your foolish brother doesn't have the ability to learn these jutsus, and it is very likely that he doesn't know they exist. As for the other question, I have eyes and ears everywhere Itachi, I see all and know all and if you question me once more I will show you why I am thought of as a God, do you understand?"

"Hn." Itachi responded.

"Very well, go quickly. Your target will reach Lightning country in an hour." The form of the Leader flickered out and Itachi was once again alone in the cave. His thoughts on the documents that this spy had stolen, and how important they must be for the Leader to be so concerned.

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Sakura flew though the trees at breakneck speeds, using almost all of her chakra to force her body to Lightning country as quickly as possible. Her thoughts drifted to her old friends.

Naruto had gotten stronger, and taller, and very handsome. He looked so much like the fourth Hokage that there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Naruto was the Fourth's son. Although, too much time spent with the Toad Sage had turned Naruto into a total perv. She thought back to the time that Naruto had tried to peek at her in the shower. He had been in a coma for a week after that.

Sasuke came into her mind as well. She wondered how he changed over the years, if he would still call her weak and annoying if they were to meet now or maybe if he would even recognize her. When he left, she had been weak and left her emotions for all to see, but the woman she had become was powerful and professional.

Kakashi had not changed at all in the time Sakura had known him. He still read his Icha Icha Paradise books and kept his face covered. But since Saskue and Naruto left, he had been slightly more withdrawn. That is until Sakura asked him for help training.

"_Kakashi-sensei, I wanted to ask you a question." Sakura stood before the copy nin, who politely lowered his book to look at his old student._

_"Hm?"_

_"I want you to train me again. This time, I want you to not ignore me. This time I want to be your best student." Kakashi thought deeply on this, after the failed attempts at training two of her other team mates, he wasn't sure he wanted to go through that again. _

_"I thought you were training with Tsunade." Kakashi replied, returning his gaze to his book._

_"There are some things she cant teach me, that you can. Teach me to fight, to be emotionless and powerful. I don't want to be weak any more." Sakura stood determined. Kakashi saw the spark of fire in her eyes, she would not fail him like he had failed the others. This time, he would get it right._

_"Ok."_

Sakura stopped on a branch outside of the village. She was on time, and had roughly two hours to recharge her chakra and kill the spy. She opened her bag and pulled out a food pill. Cringing at the known affects it was going to have on her body, she popped it in her mouth and swallowed.

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Itachi crouched on a branch just outside of the village. He scanned the area with a special jutsu he had created for his sharingan. He would be able to view a large area and single out chakra patterns and tell if they were strong or weak, male or female, and even what kind of elements they used. He noticed the presence of a small group of Cloud ninja, leaving the area, nine male ninja chunin rank and higher in the village, and a female ninja on the opposite end of the village. Focusing mostly on the nine ninja inside of the village, he scanned to find where one was alone. Two possibilities. Itachi sprang forward into the village, using the cover of dark.

Sakura took a piece of hair left at the Uchiha compound, that had been identified as the spy's and used a locater jutsu to narrow down where the man was. She finished the last hand sign and opened her eyes to see the man, in an alley wearing a long black robe.

"Gotcha." She whispered and surged forward into the village.

Itachi landed beside the band and held a kunai to his throat before the man could comprehend what had happened.

"The files." Itachi demanded.

"What files?" the man asked flabbergasted. Itachi wasted no time in killing the man and searching the body for the documents.

"Wrong one." Itachi growled and moved toward the last known place of the other lone ninja.

Sakura walked down the alley, her forehead protector gone. She smiled warmly at the lone man.

"Wanna party?" She purred seductively. The man took the bait and walked towards the pink haired woman. When he was in range, she flicked her wrist and threw a senbon into the man's neck. The man gasped and ripped the metal weapon out.

"Too late, it was poisoned. The documents?" She walked over confidently and ripped the files from the dying man's robes. "Thank you." She whispered as the man fell to the ground, dead.

Itachi sensed the female ninja near the lone man, and then the lone man's chakra disappeared completely.

"Leaf assassin." He smirked and followed the woman's chakra out of the village.

'Whoever this is, she is fast.' He thought. The chakra in front of him blazed forward into the night towards Fire country. Just as she was nearing the end of Lightning country, the same unit Itachi had sensed earlier was rushing to cut her off. Itachi narrowed his eyes, 'If they catch her, even if they kill her, Cloud will declare war on Leaf for having a ninja on their lands. Leader will not be happy if there is a war started before his plans could begin.' He thought.

Sakura was running out of juice quickly, her footing was starting to falter and she could sense chakra patterns all around her. Finally, she tripped and toppled down to the ground. All at once she was surrounded by Cloud ninja.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"She looks like a Leaf nin!"

"What does she have, papers?"

"I bet they belong to Cloud!"

Voices blazed all around her as she tried to clear her head. She reached for her forehead protector and by using a hidden senbon in her sleeve, she slashed a line right through the leaf symbol. Sakura tried to get up, but was kicked in the ribs.

"You're a long way from home." One of the men growled and kicked her in the head. The last thing she heard was shallow screams as she lost consciousness.

Itachi came up behind the unit, and noticed that it was missing one. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the group accosting the young Leaf nin. Pink hair, green eyes, he knew her. He had seen her before. Like a shadow he ascended upon the unit, killing them with ease.

Itachi looked down at the girl in front of him, she was alive but had used up most of her chakra. He crouched down and took the files from her robes, and placed them in his own pack. He then noticed something in the girl's hand.

Her forehead protector, and it had a slash right through it. Itachi smirked, "Very cleaver." He whispered. Of course she would do anything to protect her village, she was from Leaf after all.

"Perhaps you can be of use to me." He said as he lifted the small woman in his arms. He let her forehead protecter fall to the ground as evidence of Leaf's non involvement, like it or not, this girl was now a missing nin.

* * *

A/N: I have begun my new Itachi/ Sakura fic that has been so requested. I will try to update regularly but I cant make any promises. Please read and review!


	2. Bite Me

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. I do, however, own my own characters and situations.

Chapter 2

Sakura woke slowly, and felt disoriented. She looked around the small dark room she was in, realizing that it was a hotel room. She pushed her self up to a sitting position, wincing at the pain her whole body was in because of how far she had pushed her chakra.

"It's about time." She heard a deep voice come from the corner of the room. She jumped into a defensive position and searched for a weapon.

"Relax. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already." The voice spoke again with a hint of amusement.

Sakura squinted her eyes to try and make out the shape at the end of the room. She had heard that voice before, it was so familiar. Momentarily satisfied that he was telling the truth, she laid back down to stop the throbbing in her muscles. She was a medic and knew precisely what her body's limits were.

"How did I get here?" she spoke quietly, not trusting her voice not to crack under the pain.

"It seems as if we were on the same mission. It intrigued me that you beat me to the target, and so I followed you. When it became apparent that you were being headed off by Cloud nin, I was forced to intervene. One of the Cloud nin escaped and so I had to leave your forehead protector behind. You are now a missing nin." The man's voice was strangely soothing, despite what he was saying.

"Why did you help me?" She whispered.

"My leader would find it inconvenient if a pink haired young woman started a war between two powerful nations before his plans were to begin." The man said truthfully.

"Your leader?" Sakura turned her head as the man started to approach. Slowly, the outline of a face began to emerge from the darkness.

"You!" She gasped, and tried to move away.

"I told you, if I wanted you dead you would be." He put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently back down on the mat. "Rest now, I need you to regain your chakra."

"Why?" She choked out. She was stunned at the face above her. The man she vowed to hate for Sasuke's sake. The man who destroyed his life, Itachi Uchiha.

"All in good time, little one. Rest now." He commanded and walked back to the other side of the room, leaving Sakura with her confused thoughts.

* * *

The foreign affairs official for Lightning country sat angrily in front of Tsunade, sipping tea.

"It doesn't look good that your apprentice has suddenly become a missing nin and is wondering around Lightning country, killing entire squadrons. How very unusual that the Leaf village has lost a very loyal medic at the same time that an informant of Orochimaru is found dead in my country. You do realize how suspicious it looks." The man took another sip.

"If you were to have read the file on Sakura Haruno, you would have noticed that she attempted to run away from this village once before, in search of her lost team mate Sasuke Uchiha. It was also detailed how she has been training non-stop since, and yet you find it strange that she runs away and kills an _informant_ of Orochimaru. The same Orochimaru that has been training Sasuke for years now." Tsunade leaned forward and looked the man in the eyes. "It is my guess that Sakura Haruno is on her way to Sound to join up with Sasuke Uchiha, and you will be pleased to know that I have sent two of my best squadrons after her." Tsunade finished her iron clad case.

"You do realize that if we catch her first, she will not be extradited to Leaf for her trial. She will face it in Cloud." The man met the Hokage's challenging gaze.

"_If _you get to her first." Tsunade emphasized. "Now, I have given you everything that is required. I hope you are satisfied that this is not a cause for hostilities."

"Alright Lady Hokage, I am satisfied. However, if this girl is to return to this village without punishment, there will be cause for _hostilities_." The man finished his tea and stood at the same time as Tsunade.

"Peace be with you and your village." The man bowed.

"Peace be with you and Lightning country." Tsunade bowed and saw the man out of her office.

Once the man left, Tsunade sighed deeply and sat down at her desk. "Be careful Sakura." She whispered.

* * *

"Eat." Itachi pushed a carton of food at Sakura. She looked at it suspiciously. Itachi stared at her impassively.

"It could be poisoned." She stated obviously, pushing the very appetizing looking food around with her chop sticks. Itachi's hand shot out and grabbed her had with the chop sticks. She stared in pure amazement as he lifted a small amount of food with the chop sticks up to his mouth, hand still clutched around her own. Sakura blushed crimson when Itachi released her hand. He had effectively proved that the food was not poisoned.

Itachi looked at the girl with a ghost of a smile on his face, she was very amusing. He was going to have fun pushing her limits.

"So, what now?" Sakura asked quietly, between bites.

"You have three choices. One, you go back to your village and receive a prison sentence that Cloud will demand. Two, you go on your own and get caught by Cloud nin who will torture and execute you. Or three, you come with me, I may have a use for you." Sakura looked up at the renowned mass murder with shock on her face.

"What use could you possibly have for me?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"You are a medic, are you not?" Itachi challenged.

"Oh." She said simply.

"The Akatsuki have been looking for a well trained medic for a long time now. It could be beneficial to you as well." Sakura looked up with doubt.

"How so?" she asked

"You could find a weakness, exploit it and take down the organization. You have thought of it before." Itachi finished his carton and looked at her deeply with his charcoal eyes.

"You would let me get away with that?" Sakura set her empty carton down.

"No, but you could find a way to out smart me. I am only human after all; perhaps you can find a way to take down everything without anyone noticing it. You would be a hero to your village." Itachi gathered the trash and walked over to the trash bin.

"I'm not looking to be a hero." Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"No, but you are looking to test your limits. You are looking to prove yourself worthy of existence. And you are looking to be taken seriously."

"So what, I would be an Akatsuki member. Just like that?"

"There is a ritual, and once you are Akatsuki, you are Akatsuki for life." Itachi knelt back down in front of her.

"How far are you willing to go to protect your village, little one?" Sakura met his challenging gaze.

"As far as possible."

Itachi smiled darkly, "Good."

* * *

Sakura followed closely behind Itachi thorough a genjutsu and into a hidden underground bunker. She was adjusting well to her insane situation, and no longer freaked out at every movement Itachi made. It was still strange to be so close to a sworn enemy, but like it or not, he was her ticket to not only staying alive, but to taking down Akatsuki.

"Wait here." Itachi said softly. Sakura nodded and stood up against a wall while Itachi walked ahead.

Itachi walked into a small room and bowed deeply. The figure at the other end of the room looked up from a parchment he was reading.

"You have the documents?" The Leader asked monotone.

"Yes. As well as a new medic." Itachi answered. The Leader looked up; his red eyes glittered in the dark.

"A medic?" The Leader put the parchment down and focused his attention on Itachi.

"Tsunade's apprentice." Itachi clarified. "She just became a missing nin."

"Why is that?" The Leader narrowed his eyes, not particularly believing that a person of such power would give it all up willingly.

"She is in love with my brother. She wants to train with me to become strong enough to become worthy of his affection. You said that you would love to have another Uchiha, perhaps this girl could breed with my half wit brother and produce an Uchiha that would be under my training."

The Leader didn't believe that Itachi was telling the whole truth, but couldn't deny that he liked the idea of having a powerful medic and a future second Uchiha.

"Bring her to me, Itachi."

Sakura sighed deeply as she waited for Itachi to come back; she wondered what the infamous "Leader" was like. She had heard that he had the powers of a God and that had made her a little on edge.

"Come with me." Itachi's voice sounded in her ear and made her jump a foot in the air. Itachi smirked, she was still amusing him.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked quietly as they walked.

"To meet the Leader, but first," he stopped and pushed her against the wall. She panicked and started to struggle. "Be still." His commanding voice halted her movement.

"What…" She started, but was cut off by his sharingan being activated.

_"What is going on?" Sakura asked as the world around her spun red and black. _

_"You must first understand what I have told the Leader." Itachi's voice sounded all around her. She was shown the meeting between Itachi and the Leader, and shuddered at the sound of The Leader's voice. _

_"Hey! I don't want to be a baby factory for Sasuke!" Sakura huffed indignantly. _

_"It was the only story he would be likely to believe." Itachi's voice said with amusement._

_"But now he is expecting me to pop out little Uchihas!" _

_"Then you must find a way to take down Akatsuki before The Leader demands the child. Surely, I thought you were smarter than that." Itachi's voice taunted. _

_"Ok, I get the picture. Now can you let me out of here?" _

Sakura's mind was released and she fell to the floor. She held her head, which was throbbing.

"The after affect of the jutsu, the migraine." Itachi stated obviously and held a hand out to her. She ignored it and stood on her own, pushing soothing chakra into her head.

"Come." Itachi walked in front of Sakura to a room that she was shown in her head. She took a deep breath and was led inside.

The room was scarcely lit, and had only a large wooden desk in the middle of it.

_"I wonder who the interior decorator here is." _She thought with an inner smirk. The Leader was sitting at the desk in front of her, his red eyes bore through her in the darkness.

"What is your name, girl?" The deep voice boomed.

"Sakura Haruno." She spoke with determination, pushing herself to stand straight and meet the scary eyes.

"Is it true, you wish to be strong enough to have Sasuke love you as you love him?"

Sakura took a deep breath before she answered. "Yes it is."

"I have conditions of you living here, and working under me Sakura." The Leader stood. "You will treat all of the medical aliments of the Akatsuki, everything from a cold to re-attaching limbs. You will train under Itachi, and must do exactly as he says. You will go on missions with my Akatsuki, because if you are to stay, you are to be a loyal member. With regards to your personal life, you may seek out Sasuke Uchiha at my convenience, and your union must produce a child. If It becomes apparent that no child will be made from you and Sasuke, Itachi will be fathering your child."

Sakura gulped and discretely looked over at Itachi, who didn't seem the least surprised.

"I will have an Uchiha heir, it is necessary for my plans, as Itachi well knows." The Leader chuckled. Inner Sakura was seething at the position Itachi had put her in. It was originally HIS job to knock up a girl and give The Leader the Uchiha heir he needed. Now that he had Sakura, who had a history with his little brother, all the attention that was pushed on him has now gone on to Sakura. _"This is what he means by 'has a use for me'."_

"Take care to remember Sakura; you will face a painful death if you defy me." The Leader pointed to a chest on the floor. "Your new wardrobe." The Leader smiled.

Sakura took the chest and bowed deeply to her new Leader. She followed Itachi out the door and down the hall to a room he announced was hers. She walked in and set the chest down on the bed.

"Itachi." She called as he went to leave. She walked up to him with fire in her eyes and smoke coming out of her ears.

"I will never, have your child." She growled. Itachi smirked

"I am counting on that you wont. Get your plans in motion, little one." He flashed his eyes crimson once to remind Sakura of just who she was challenging.

"Itachi, bite me." She ground out and turned away from him. He kept his smirk and left the room quietly.

"Careful what you wish for little one."

* * *

A/N: Okay, second chapter! Thank you thank you thank you for all the pretty reviews!! I know I said before that I wouldn't make another Itachi/ Sakura fic, but this popped into my head. And before you ask, this isn't about a baby! Just had to get a circle of lies going round and round and what more would Leader want, but a new Uchiha to manipulate! PLEASE read and review!!


	3. Sarcasm and Optimism

* * *

Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers

Chapter 3

Sakura blocked Itachi's right hook and spun to catch him in the side with a chakra concentrated foot. Itachi saw right through it and stepped aside at the last second, using his leg to trip the already in motion woman. Sakura landed heavily on her butt for the fourth time that day. She screamed with frustration and stood back up to face off again.

The other Akatsuki had started to gather around when the two would fight, many making bets on how many times Itachi would knock her down. One brave soul was dared into smacking her inflamed rear after the match was over. Sakura had promptly broken his nose, and then was forced to heal it.

"If it's possible, you are getting slower." Itachi said with a smirk. It only made Sakura attack with more aggression.

"Well I guess your theory of fighting with pure hatred is incorrect, I am not going to beat you purely on hatred alone." Sakura growled.

"Perhaps you don't hate me enough." Itachi blocked left and pushed her over her center of balance, making her fall again.

"Oh, I don't think hatred is the problem Itachi." She said rubbing her sore butt.

"That's enough for today. We will work on genjutsu tomorrow." Itachi held a hand out to the bruised woman. As always, she ignored it and stood on her own. She huffed and stormed past him into a crowd of Akatsuki.

"Oh Sakura dear, I have a splinter. Could you pull it out for me?" Kisame taunted. Sakura stopped and turned slowly, menacingly.

"Sure Kisame, come here and I will take care of it." She said with sugar sweetness. Kisame walked over arrogantly with his shark tooth grin. As soon as he was standing right in front of her, she swung her right fist hard and fast into the shark man's face. He flew through the air and crashed into four trees before he came to a halt.

"Any other splinters?" Sakura smiled evilly. The other members looked at each other uncertainly before quickly dispersing.

Itachi watched Sakura hit Kisame with enough force to take out a building. He shook his head at her poor use of power, she should have focused that energy on their battle. She was still amusing him, every day.

They had gotten into a routine, insults then breakfast; kicking her around the sparing field, then lunch; her beating the hell out of at least three Akatsuki and then healing them; dinner, more insults and then she would lock herself in her room with a scream, a huff, or a slam of the door. Needless to say, she had not become the demure, meek healer the Akatsuki had originally hoped for. Most of the time, they would just lick their own wounds rather than go to the hell cat Leaf nin.

Itachi knocked on Sakura's door at around midnight that night. A grumble and a bit of stomping around later, the door opened to reveal a slightly murderous looking pink haired ninja.

"We have a mission." Itachi said stoically, not at all intimidated by her look.

"Fine." She said and slammed the door in his face, presumably to change and pack. When she opened the door again, she was completely ready if not looking a bit tired.

Itachi let her walk in front of him until they got down the hall and close to the exit of the bunker. Feeling as though it was far enough away from the others to hear, he grabbed her by the arm and slammed her into the wall with enough force to make her head spin.

"You may give the others attitude, but you will stop giving it to me. I have no problem making your training as painful and as mentally crushing as I can. How would you like to be tortured in my Tsukuyomi for two days, Sakura?"

His hot breath tickled her ear, but she forced herself to remain calm. She never wanted to admit it, but Itachi still scared the hell out of her. She turned her head to the side, baring her neck as an unconscious submission. Itachi read her body language and was satisfied with the results of his threats. He let her go and forced her to walk beside him, not in front like she was in charge, nor behind as a wounded animal, but as his partner for this mission.

"What is the mission?" Sakura asked quietly as they ran through the trees.

"You are going to see Sasuke. The Leader is impatient for a child; therefore putting you in direct contact with Sasuke seems imperative."

"Okay… well what about you?" Sakura rolled her eyes at her true 'purpose'.

"I am your back up."

"So, I am going to waltz on into Orochimaru's lair, and jump Sasuke, who will surely be very happy to see me because he has always harbored a 'secret crush' on me. Oh I can just see it now, "Sakura, my love! What a beautiful Akatsuki cloak you have!" "Oh yes Sasuke, dear. You see I am being trained by your brother whom you have sworn to hate for all eternity!" "Oh really Sakura? Well that is okay, I love you anyway, let us please go and make babies for The Leader of Akatsuki to use in his evil plans to take over the world!" "Oh Sasuke, I knew you would understand!" Sakura finished her monologue with a look of pure sarcasm on her face.

"I doubt the conversation will go that smoothly, but if you want to be optimistic, that is your prerogative." Itachi replied with a barely contained smirk. She was always amusing.

"Seriously, what the HELL am I going to do?" Sakura asked with a little laugh.

"Fight him. If you win, he might be obligated to comply with your wishes." Itachi responded with a shrug.

"OOOkay, so I am supposed to kick Sasuke's butt, and then demand babies out of him. I DON'T WANT BABIES!" She growled with frustration.

"Well, perhaps you can get something else out of him. An alliance maybe?"

"What do…" Sakura stopped her rant and looked over at Itachi with a raised eyebrow. "You ARE a genius!" She smiled.

"Obviously."

* * *

Tsunade sat at her desk and read the report over again for the fourth time. She looked up at Jiryia and sighed.

"I figured she would have gone to Sound, become ingrained with Orochimaru's operation. It would have made more sense, she would have had a chance that Sasuke would protect her. What on earth made her join Akatsuki?" Tsunade crumpled the report.

"She is very loyal to Leaf, maybe this is her way of protecting it, by joining the worst of out enemies." Jiryia pointed out. "She is under training with Itachi Uchiha, that is the part I don't understand. Why would Itachi give a damn to train a team mate of the man who has vowed to kill him?"

"There has always been more to Itachi that meets the eye, Jiryia." Tsunade responded cryptically.

"What do we do now?"

"We wait. Sakura is on a very dangerous mission. We must wait for her to make a move before we make ours."

* * *

"Have you thought of what I am supposed to do?" Sakura asked shyly, kicking a rock around with her foot. They had stopped an hour outside of where Orochimaru's hide out was for a rest and recharge of chakra.

"It is your mission, you must think of what you will do and say." Itachi sat on a large rock and began sharpening some kunai.

"Yeah, I know. But I was wondering, well maybe if you had some…" Sakura looked up at the Uchiha who was clearly enjoying making her ask what she wanted to ask.

"Okay fine. I need some advice…. _Please_." She managed.

"Perhaps you should challenge Sasuke to a dual. That way you would be close enough to talk to, and yet it would seem as if you were merely fighting." Itachi answered.

"What if he doesn't want to talk, what if he wants to kill me?" Sakura sighed and sat heavily on the ground, remembering her sore butt a moment too late.

"I wont let him kill you, Leader would not be pleased."

Sakura rolled her eyes at Itachi's concern for her well being. She thought hard on what she would say, but was only drawing a blank. Becoming a missing nin was easy, joining Akatsuki was easy, sparing with Itachi was irritating, but easy. Talking to Sasuke again, that was going to be hard.

* * *

A/N: Sorry its soo short but I wanted a whole chapter for Saskue and Sakura. Please read and review!


	4. Meetings

Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers.

Chapter 4

Sakura took a deep breath as she infiltrated the genjutsu surrounding the castle Orochimaru called home. Genjutsu had always been easy for her, and with Itachi's last minute training, it had become a piece of cake to break into the heavily guarded fortress. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra in her eyes, like Itachi had taught her. She imagined what Sasuke looked like, what his chakra felt like, his personality. Soon, a mental map began to form in her head. She opened her eyes and followed the directions her chakra was telling her. She followed one hallway after another, up stairs and back down them, around corners and through doorways.

Anytime she felt a chakra presence, she would mask her chakra and will her body to slow her heart rate down. Finally she found him. Slowly she opened the door.

* * *

Itachi sat on a branch, extending his senses towards the castle, and his partner. He promised that he would come if he felt she was in danger, but he knew that the only one she would have trouble with was Orochimaru, and he wasn't there.

Itachi smirked when he felt Sakura use her chakra to locate his little brother. She was terribly slow at learning taijutsu, her genjutsu skills were impressive. He knew that he would have to step up her training once they got back to the hide out, she was still too weak to survive on her own once her plans started rolling, and him helping her outside of the training was out of the question. He was going easy on her, letting her adjust to life as a rouge, but with The Leader's impatience for an Uchiha child, the pressure for her to figure out a way to take him down was getting to a boiling point.

* * *

Sakura stood in the doorway staring at a pair of red sharingan eyes. She didn't blink or turn away, mostly because she was used to those eyes with Itachi's training. He had been teaching her to resist the genjutsu they can cast.

"Sakura huh?" Sasuke said through the darkness, with mild amusement. "Come to take me home?"

"No, actually I came here to fight." She responded, letting him have a better view of her outfit. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to her. He looked her over for a long moment and then walked past her out the door.

"Come with me." He said simply and walked down the hallway with Sakura following close behind. They entered a courtyard that was obviously used for high level combat training.

"You didn't just come here to fight me, what have you gotten yourself into, Sakura?" Sasuke turned to face her with a stoic expression.

"You're right." She said with a smile and launched into an attack. She hit high while blocking low like Kakashi had taught her. Finding an opening, she smacked him in the shoulder with her chakra enhanced hand, breaking several bones there, she learned that from Tsunade. Noticing that he was facing an actual opponent, Sasuke used his Sharingan to create a genjutsu. Sakura pretended to fall for it, until the last moment when she lifted her heal to come down on the top of his foot, catching him off guard and off balance. Itachi had taught her how to break the specific genjutsu that he knew Sasuke would use.

They broke away, and Sasuke smirked at her.

"You have gotten strong, you must have worked very hard." He said appraisingly.

"I had no choice. You left, Naruto left, and I was left behind like always. Who would have thought that the weakest of team seven would have ever become the newest member of Akatsuki?" Sakura hit the ground in front of her, the ground split and Sasuke jumped out of the way at the last second.

"What is it you need of me?" Sasuke asked.

"I need help." She said quietly. "The Akatsuki want an Uchiha baby, and The Leader thinks that he can get one out of you and me." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this. "Well I don't plan on having the kid! I need help in taking down Akatsuki before they get one. Even if they kill me, The Leader will stop at nothing to have an Uchiha heir to fulfill his plans and those plans include making a war that will kill millions of people."

"Why should I help you?" Sasuke asked with the same kind of monotone that his brother used.

"Why? Well lets see… You left Leaf out of selfishness, you are training with a monster who wants nothing more than to kill everyone in the village you swore you would protect, you also swore you would protect your team with your life and last I checked I was a part of that team you abandoned. You owe the Leaf village, and you owe me." Sakura said angrily, charging again. Sasuke saw right through the attack and grabbed her by her throat and held her in the air.

"What if I want to break those bonds, what if I want to kill you?" He said sadistically.

"Then you would be worse than your brother." She choked out. Sasuke's eyes softened and his grip loosened slightly. This gave Sakura the opportunity to kick him in the stomach with her chakra enhanced foot.

"As a former teammate, I am asking you for help. If you don't help me, then I will be killed and the best chance the world has for taking down this organization goes with me." Sasuke stood and looked at his former teammate with a new found respect.

"What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Itachi sensed Sakura coming and gathered their packs.

"Lets get out of here." Sakura said quickly, grabbing her pack. Itachi did not answer, but followed her towards the bunker.

"All went well?" Itachi couldn't help but ask a few miles away from Orochimaru's castle.

"A stranger sort of reunion than I had originally thought, but it went well enough." Sakura answered truthfully.

"Did you consummate your new relationship?" Itachi asked stocially.

"Did I…? EWW!" Sakura nearly fell out of the tree she had landed on. "Itachi, what part of, 'I don't want to have a baby' didn't you understand the first time?" She nearly screamed. Itachi didn't answer, and a silence fell over them throughout their journey.

"Let us stop here." Itachi called out about a mile away from the bunker. Sakura raised an eyebrow at his request, but stopped anyway.

"What's up?" She asked, putting her pack down.

"You do realize that your mission was to… how did you put it…? _Jump_ Sasuke. There are tell tale signs on a person's body that confirm that this transaction had commenced, and you have none." Itachi thought carefully for the words to describe what he meant.

Sakura looked clueless for a moment before realization hit her. "Oh." She said simply.

"Marks, on your neck are missing, and your clothes are in pristine condition, as well as lacking a flush one acquires during these activities." Itachi set his pack down and crossed his arms.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Sakura asked with a hint of panic in her voice.

"It was your mission." Itachi pointed out.

"Do YOU want to be a father?" Sakura challenged, knowing that if she were discovered that he would be in charge of producing the child.

"I will assist you this time, but make sure that you are better prepared next time." Itachi said with a dark expression, he hated being backed into a corner.

"Okay, so… umm." Sakura began awkwardly. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, how was she supposed to make herself look ravaged?

Itachi sighed and removed his cloak, indicating that she do the same. He beckoned for her to come closer, and with a gulp, she complied. Once she was in reaching distance, he took her by the arms and spun her around and up against a tree.

"Try to relax." Itachi's smooth voice rang in her ears. Sakura forced her body to relax, letting her eyes drift closed in the process. Itachi stepped closer and pressed his lips to the soft skin under her ear. Slowly, he started to ravage her neck with small bites that, at one point, forced a small moan out of Sakura. She couldn't help the reaction her body was having to his ministrations, and although she was mortified that she was one step away from making out with her sworn enemy in the middle of the woods, she was in pure heaven with the things he was doing to her.

The moan didn't go unnoticed by Itachi, and he couldn't help but smirk at how talented he was in areas outside of fighting. He moved to the other side of her neck, carefully trailing across her collar bone and under her jaw. When he kissed right under her earlobe, Sakura's knees nearly gave out. Feeling satisfied that he created a much better picture of a ravaged lover, he released Sakura from his grasp. Sakura looked torn between grateful and murderous. She was grateful that he had helped her make a picture to convince The Leader that she and Sasuke had taking a rolling around in the hay, but felt murderous that he had made her feel so wound up without any thought of a release. Then the thought came to her that she had thought about a "release" with Itachi.

"Thankyou." She managed to mumble out before they resumed their hurried speed to the bunker. Itachi left Sakura at The Leader's door, and Sakura braved a knock and entered.

"Sakura, how was your 'meeting'?" The Leader smiled evilly.

"Wonderful." She said with a forced smile. The Leader looked at her closely and noticed something amusing. He began a low chuckle that turned into a rather scary laugh.

"Apparently not so wonderful, the little brat didn't leave you satisfied, did he?" He laughed. Sakura looked mortified but tried to regain her composure.

"I…" She began.

"No, no. I understand. You may go and release your 'frustrations'." The Leader laughed at the bright red woman. Seeing that as a dismissal, she left the room quickly. She shook her head in embarrassment, _'The Leader thought Sasuke couldn't satisfy me?'_ she thought with horror.

* * *

Sasuke sat in the courtyard, he had thought long and hard of all that had been requested of him by his old teammate. He had never realized how much potential Sakura had, and found a new respect for her. He felt Orochimaru and Kabuto reach the mangled courtyard.

"What happened here?" Kabuto asked, his eyes wide.

"I had a visitor." Sasuke answered truthfully and stood, putting less weight on his broken foot, keeping his broken shoulder and two broken ribs in mind.

"A visitor?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, not liking the thought of someone walking in to his lair and beating the hell out of his prized possession.

"Sakura Haruno. My old teammate, the one who was training with Tsunade. She has become a missing nin and joined Akatsuki." He limped over to Kabuto. The medic started to treat his crushed bones while Orochimaru stared in disbelief.

"The pink haired girl I nearly killed three times? I guess Tsunade's training has improved her greatly." Orochimaru looked impressed.

"The Legendary Three are now training a new generation of Legends. With Naruto under Jiryia's training and with Sasuke under yours, the old team seven has become more than the bunch of misfits it had been." Kabuto said with a smirk.

"Indeed. What did this Sakura Haruno want with you?" Orochimaru turned the focus back to Sasuke.

"To prove she could finally stand up to me in a match." Sasuke answered.

"And?" Orochimaru pushed.

"She can. She is stronger and braver than I would have ever thought possible. I am going to enjoy watching her blossom." Sasuke said with an evil grin.

* * *

A/N: Okay, there is a whole bunch going on than meets the eye! I love twisty turny plots! Please read and review and THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH to those who reviewed!! LOVE LOVE LOVE to you all!!


	5. Cycles

Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers

Chapter 5

"Sakura, You have met Sasuke four times now, is there any progress in our plans?" The Leader stared down the pink haired woman.

"What do you mean, Leader?" Sakura asked, pretending to not know what he was talking about.

"Have you missed your cycle yet?" The Leader pressed, sounding annoyed. Sakura's eyes widened slightly and she allowed a blush to creep over her face.

"I will not know for another couple of weeks." She answered carefully. The Leader narrowed his eyes and waved his hand in dismissal. Sakura left the room quickly and rushed out to the training yards where she was meeting Itachi.

"You're late." Itachi pointed out. He launched into an attack without warning. Sakura realized what he was going to do before she stepped outside. She blocked and spun out of his reach.

"I had a meeting." Sakura defended. She used a fireball jutsu and used her super chakra to launch herself out of the way of a water attack.

"What about?" Itachi asked, sounding slightly interested.

"My menstrual cycle." Sakura answered and hit him in the shoulder with her chakra enhanced fist when he was caught off guard by her answer. Itachi went flying into the side of the building. Sakura smirked and went over to where he was lying in a pile of rubble.

"What's the matter Itachi, catch you off guard?" Sakura laughed and held her hand out to her training partner. He ignored it and stood on his own.

"Care to clarify why you were speaking with The Leader about your womanly cycles?" Itachi asked.

"You know, the whole baby mama thing." Sakura shook her hand in dismissal of thought. "You hungry?"

"Hn." They left the destroyed yard in relative silence.

* * *

"What is going on with you and the Sakura girl? I don't approve of her breaking into my home every week, you know." Orochimaru asked. Sasuke looked up from the documents he was looking at and back down to them.

"What do you think is going on with us? She is a woman, I am a man. Do I have to explain any further?" Sasuke replied.

"So you are just using her?"

"Perhaps." Sasuke was becoming bored of the conversation.

"What else would you want of her?" Orochimaru pressed.

"After my brother is dead, I will need to rebuild my clan. She is powerful and beautiful, therefore a prime candidate to be my wife." Sasuke said with finality. Orochimaru sneered at the rudeness his student showed him.

* * *

"If you want to see her, it will have to be in a neutral place, I am upgrading the security here, I don't like the thought of the Akatsuki walking in here anytime they please." Orochimaru growled as he walked out of the room, finally fed up with Sasuke's attitude.

"As you wish." Sasuke smirked.

* * *

"How were the meetings with Sasuke?" Itachi asked in-between bites. Sakura rolled her eyes and took a bite of her plum.

"_Wonderful_. I never realized how self absorbed he is. Everything has to be _his_ way or nothing at all." She leaned in to whisper. "I'm glad we're not doing 'you know', he would probably selfish at that too." She smiled. Itachi shook his head at the thought.

"But this whole, Leader asking about my period thing, its just plain creepy. Who would have ever thought that a leader of a doomsday organization filled with mass murderers would be asking me if I am 'on time'." Sakura shook her head. "What are we doing later? Can we work on that genjutsu you said you would teach me?" Sakura gave her famous puppy eyes, the same eyes that were lost on someone like Itachi. But still, Itachi found it amusing when she would try to use that look on him and often complied.

"If you wish." He said taking a sip of tea.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

"So, can I ask you a question?" Sakura laid on the ground, looking up at the night sky. They had trained for two hours before Sakura mastered the genjutsu that let made it seem as if there were hundreds of her all around the enemy, allowing the real her to assinate the target. It was a high level jutsu, and Sakura had impressed her teacher by learning it so quickly.

"You just did." Itachi replied cheekily. Sakura huffed and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I'm serious."

"You may ask whatever you want, but I might not answer." Itachi said truthfully.

"Why did you kill your clan?" She all but whispered. Itachi looked over at her and gave a small smile.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask that." He said. Sakura braved a look over at her companion.

"Maybe someday I will tell you, but I can't disclose that information just yet." Itachi stood and offered a hand to the woman. As per tradition, she ignored his hand and stood on her own.

"There is more to you than a simple murderer, isn't there?" Sakura asked softly, walking next to him.

"Nothing is ever just black or white, good or evil. Maybe you can find me in the grey, little one." Itachi bowed slightly to say goodnight and disappeared. Sakura stayed in the moonlight, thinking about what he said.

"I'm not little." She huffed out loud.

Two days later Sakura was sent out for her weekly meeting with Sasuke. He had sent her a note to meet her in a hotel in a village six miles from Orochimaru's hide out.

"Any progress?" Sasuke asked, sitting on the futon as she walked in.

"I know where it is." She smirked confidently.

"Any idea what you are going to do with it?" He asked, bored.

"That is what you're for." He reminded, rolling her eyes.

"I found something, but it isn't practical." He tossed a file at her feet. She narrowed her eyes as she picked it up and started to read it.

"You're right, it isn't practical. But it's a start." She sighed, and sat across from him on the floor.

"When are you going to make your move?"

"I don't know. Soon though, or I am going to have to get pregnant." She shuddered. "And that is not on my priority list."

"Why not?" He pressed. Sakura looked up at him as if he lost his mind. "You know that when this is all over, you are the one I chose to become my wife."

Sakura laughed uneasily, knowing that Sasuke wasn't kidding.

"Soon, this will be all over. The Uchiha clan will be re-born, through us." Sasuke stood and took her by the arm. She stood, carefully guarding her reaction to him.

"Almost time to go, you need to look the part." Sasuke whispered and roughly pushed her against the wall, crashing his lips on hers. She allowed him to continue his ministrations, even though she never enjoyed them the way she had with Itachi.

"See you soon." She whispered and left quickly, before things got any deeper than they needed to get.

She ran through the trees, her mind in jumbles about the plans to destroy Akatsuki, and her predicament with Sasuke. She reached the bunker and made her way to her room quickly.

She memorized the information Sasuke had given her and set the file on fire, she couldn't have any nosey Akatsuki tripping over her plans. Soon, she would be able to return home. The threat of the Akatsuki would be over and she would be able to see her friends and family again.

But then she thought of her strange life with the Akatsuki. They treated her with respect, like she was equal to them. It was strangely refreshing to have everyone around her not knowing about the time she was weak. It will be strange to destroy a life she had come to like, but she was not selfish like Sasuke, she would protect her village. At all costs.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long, and that its so short. I fell off a horse I was working with and broke two bones in my back so when I am not flying into outerspace on pain killers, I am sleeping. I will try to be more productive! More interesting things to come! Please read and review!


	6. Uchiha Eye

Disclaimer: read the other disclaimers

Chapter 6

"So… did you get the Uchiha eye yet?" Kisame looked curiously at Sakura who was eating a bowl of chicken and rice.

"Wuts dat?" Sakura asked with a full mouth, raising an eyebrow. Kisame tisked and shook his head.

"Sasuke must be a horrible lover to not give you the Uchiha eye." Kisame sighed. Sakura rolled her eyes and blushed at his implication.

"I will ask again, what is the Uchiha eye?" Sakura asked a bit annoyed. Kisame looked both ways and came in closer to her as if he were giving away a huge secret. Sakura sighed and leaned in, now curious about the shark man's information.

"You didn't hear it from me, but the Uchiha eye is a special jutsu the Uchiha clan use to seduce. Apparently the Sharingan can not only drive you crazy and kill you, but it can also give you like fifteen orgasms in a row." Kisame grinned at the red faced woman.

"That's ridiculous!" Sakura choked. She looked around and leaned back towards Kisame. "It's not true is it?"

"Itachi brought this one girl to a hotel we were staying in on a mission. She screamed so loud, the manager kicked us out. US, psychopathic mass murders." Kisame lifted his hands in enthusiasm.

"Screamed? In pleasure?" Sakura whispered.

"Well yeah, what else would I mean?" Kisame had a look of 'Duh" on his face.

"Well remember the psycho mass murder part, it could have been in pain or something." Sakura mumbled.

"Not this time. I asked Itachi about it later and he said that it was 'the Uchiha eye' and not to worry about it." Kisame raised his brow at the now contemplating woman. "You want some of that Uchiha eye, don't you?" He grinned.

Sakura smacked him upside the head for his comment, "I was thinking more along the lines of, Itachi with a woman?"

"Well he is a guy." Kisame rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, but still, it's Itachi." She deadpanned.

"What's Itachi?" the man in question asked over the bright red woman's shoulder. Kisame grinned at the opportunity to make the prudish medic squirm.

"I was just telling Sakura about your famous 'Uchiha Eye'." Kisame stated loudly, braving a look at the woman who looked ready to commit murder.

"Hn." Itachi raised an eyebrow and looked over at Sakura. "Why would you ask?" Itachi asked with a small smile.

"I… I didn't! Kisame just started telling me about your 'special abilities' and... about a woman who was, uh… screaming." Sakura looked for an exit, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Ah, are you referring to the Jutsu of a Thousand Orgasms?" Itachi locked eyes with Sakura. Sakura realized she held his eye contact and made an 'eep!' before rushing out of the room.

Kisame broke out in a loud fit of laughter. "She is too easy to mess with."

"She is very entertaining." Itachi agreed. "I suppose I should go and explain the entire jutsu to her, she will overanalyze it to death."

Sakura sat in the courtyard, carefully avoiding Itachi and his eyes. She sighed when she was confident he was nowhere to be seen and laid back on the grass. She looked up at the sky and watched the clouds pass by, realizing quickly why Shikamaru enjoyed this pastime so much. She relaxed and slowly let her guard down. Closing her eyes, she let the breeze caress her tanned skin.

"You shouldn't fall asleep in the sun." The familiar voice made her jump and stare into 'the eyes'.

"AH! God! What is your deal sneaking up on relaxing people?!" Sakura looked everywhere but at Itachi.

"Perhaps I should explain the jutsu to you." Itachi took a seat next to Sakura and stretched out his legs. "The jutsu was originally a way of getting information out of a suspect. As you know, the Uchiha clan was the police force of Leaf for many years, so ways of gathering information with the Sharingan became more… creative. The woman who Kisame was referring to was an informant I was gathering information out of. I do not find it necessary to torture and kill everyone for what I want, contrary to what you believe. It is a lost art, one that I happened upon when I was still in Leaf. Sasuke probably doesn't know such a jutsu exists, and probably wouldn't be able to use it any way." Itachi smiled slightly.

"So you have a jutsu that is specifically designed to make a person…" she trailed, not really knowing why she even asked.

"Yes." He answered. "You can look at me Sakura." He held back a smirk.

"Oh I know, I just… I think I will see if anyone needs healing." Sakura laughed embarrassed, still not looking at Itachi.

"Sakura, look at me." Itachi demanded. Sakura stopped her retreat and turned slowly, taking a deep breath. She slowly met his gaze and found his arrogant smirk. "If I were to perform that specific jutsu, there would be no escaping it, so by not meeting my gaze you are making me more interested in experimentation." Sakura gulped and nodded, keeping her gaze locked on his, not tempting his sadistic side.

"Meet me here tonight, I have a mission in the morning, but I want to teach you a scouting jutsu that you can use at night before I leave." Sakura smiled at the thought of learning a new jutsu and bowed.

_'Strange, I threaten her with torture in a hellish dimension inside my head, and the thing that terrifies her is a jutsu that would bring her extreme pleasure. Strange woman.' _

* * *

Orochimaru paced in his chamber, he didn't like the idea of his Sasuke spending time with an Akatsuki member. Expecially a woman, who he is romantically involved with.

"Kabuto!" He shouted, almost immediately his medic was at his side.

"My lord?" Kabuto bowed.

"I don't want that woman getting with child. There is a jutsu I want you to perform on Sasuke that will prevent him from reproducing." Orochimaru smiled his evil smile.

"If I may ask, why don't you want him making a child? Wouldn't an extra Uchiha body be useful?" Kabuto retrieved the files with the specific jutsu in it.

"Once I have Sasuke's body, I can use it to create more Uchihas. I am worried about him finding an attraction to a child; it is one of the things he plans to do after he kills Itachi is rebuild his clan. If this girl gets pregnant, it could be devastating to my plans." Orochimaru nodded to Kabuto when the right jutsu was in front of him.

"I understand My Lord." Kabuto smiled and started the jutsu.

In the corner, a maid swept the floor. She turned off the recorder in her pocket and left the room hurriedly to get her new findings to her master.

* * *

"That is it, you have mastered it." Itachi nodded to his student who wore a giant grin.

"That is a useful technique!" Sakura smiled and started to walk with Itachi back to the bunker. One of the lower Akatsuki members stopped them at the door and told them that the Leader required their presence.

They walked together to The Leader's door. Itachi went in first, followed closely by Sakura. The Leader did not look happy, and by the way he was looking at Sakura, he did not look happy with her.

"You sent for us Leader?" Itachi asked, voice confident.

"I have new information from a spy I planted in Orochimaru's operation." The Leader placed a small tape recorder on the table and let the tape play. When the tape was over Sakura looked up, apprehensively at Itachi.

"You are not to meet Sasuke anymore; it is a waste of time. Your new mission is a joint mission. You are to produce a child, together." Leader stared hard at his subjects, daring them to say anything against the order. "Sakura, your things have been moved into Itachi's room already."

Sakura's stomach dropped out of her feet, and she felt her face go deathly pale.

"As you wish, Leader." Itachi answered for the both of them. Sakura managed a nod, not trusting her voice and she let Itachi lead her out of the room.

"How long can we stall?" Itachi whispered when they were far enough away.

"Two weeks, but I still haven't managed to complete everything for Destruction Day." She whispered back, feeling sick.

"Come, I have a mission to prepare for and you have a coup de tat to plan." Itachi led her to an unfamiliar door, his room. She paused in the doorway, noticing her things placed neatly in the corner.

"We can make this work." She said with determination, walking into the room and closing the door. "I can finish this mission."

* * *

A/N: DUM DUM DUMMMMM!! And the plot thickens! To answer some questions, Sasuke is freaky because he needs to be, it will be explained in the end I PROMISE! And as for my injury, the one break that I know for certain is a L1 anterior wedge fracture, which means a break in a vertebra in my lower back. I don't know where the other one is yet. BUT hey I got a chapter out so, there!! Love to all my wonderful reviewers, you make me happy!! Thank you thank you! Please read and review!


	7. Sake and Headboards

Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers

Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers

Chapter 7

Sakura stood by the door, not knowing exactly what to do. Itachi moved over to a wooden desk and grabbed a scroll and some maps. He spread the material over the bed and looked up at the motionless girl.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to do some work?" Itachi raised a brow. Sakura stood straighter and walked over to her trunk that she locked with a special jutsu that allowed only her to open it. She pulled out a book that Sasuke had given her and began to read, while sitting down in the far corner of the room.

_'This is not going to be easy, there are over two hundred hand signs in this jutsu.'_ She thought to herself. She looked over at Itachi with envy.

"You wouldn't want to let me borrow that Sharingan for a day, would you?" Sakura mumbled. Itachi kept working but allowed a small smile to emerge.

They worked in silence the until morning, but then Itachi had his entire mission planned out and Sakura had most of the kinks out of her plan. She yawned and glanced over at the completely awake looking man. He noticed her gaze.

"Yes?" He asked, not looking up from where he was.

"How do you do that?" She spun to face him, resting her chin on her knees and her arms around her legs.

"Do what?" Itachi glanced in her direction.

"Go days without sleep and not look worse for wear?"

"Years of practice." He answered shortly and started to pack his things.

"How long will you be gone?" She inclined her head in question.

"A couple of hours, why, are you going to prepare dinner, _dear_?" Itachi smirked and dodged a boot that went flying at his head.

"Cha! Right, me cook for you! What do I look like?" She huffed with her arms crossed.

"Well, for our joint mission The Leader has given us; it is as if we are married. Is it not?" Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but then realized that he had a point. "The Leader will have informed everyone to treat us as if we are married, so don't be surprised if the others make comments like that." Itachi slung his pack over his back and walked to the door. He opened it and was about to walk out when he heard a voice call him back.

"Hn?"

"Be careful." Sakura mumbled. Itachi nodded and left the woman to her thoughts.

As soon as Itachi was gone, Sakura lept onto the bed and under the covers, she figured that her new mission required her to be in bed, so why not get some sleep while she was there? She snuggled into the pillow, noticing traces of Itachi's very manly smell. She sighed and was asleep in seconds.

* * *

Itachi sped through the trees, his mission was complete but he still had something to do. He reached the cave he was meeting his informant, and slowed. He used his jutsu to scan the area, satisfied with the one other chakra trace coming from the cave. He jumped to the mouth of the cave and took a seat.

"You're late." The man in the shadows chided.

"What do you have for me?" Itachi asked without annoyance.

"Orochimaru will begin the body transfer jutsu in a week; he will have to be eliminated soon." The man answered.

"We must plan this right, if all goes well with Sakura's plan, we may be able to bring down everything at once." Itachi said.

"You put a lot of trust into Sakura, Itachi." The man narrowed his eyes.

"D-Day has to be performed within a week, The Leader is demanding that she becomes pregnant immediately. If we stall any longer, The Leader will ruin everything."

"So, you're the projected father now?" The man laughed slightly.

"So it seems." Itachi stood. "You have a short amount of time to kill Orochimaru, get too it." Itachi went to leave.

"What about Leaf?" The man asked suddenly.

"Let Leaf clean up the mess. I am counting on you to get Sakura to Leaf when she completes the jutsu, she will need medical attention." Itachi said sternly.

"Is it all going to be over, really over?" The man asked more quietly, almost awed.

"Either we are going to succeed, or we are all going to be killed. Either way, it will all be over for us." Itachi responded as he left the cave.

* * *

Itachi walked into the bunker, ignoring the strange stares and whispers around him. Kisame walked up to him and handed him a bottle of Sake. Itachi looked at it questioningly.

"You'll need it more than I will now. Wives are easier to deal with when you're drunk." Kisame told him with a pat on the back and walked away. Itachi raised a brow and walked to The Leader's door.

"The mission is complete, Leader." Itachi bowed.

"Good. Now, complete your other mission." Leader stared him down.

"Hai." Itachi turned to leave.

"I know the difference from fake moaning and real moaning, Itachi. I will know if you are completing the mission." Itachi didn't turn to face him, he nodded and left the room.

When he got to his room, he felt Sakura's chakra. He opened the door slowly, seeing a lump of covers with two legs sticking out and pillows all over the floor. Itachi turned his head to figure out how she could sleep in such a haphazard position.

"Have you been sleeping all day?" Itachi's voice broke Sakura out of her peaceful slumber and made her nearly hit the ceiling.

"What…! Ugh, its you." Sakura stuffed her face back in the mattress.

"Get up, get dressed, brush your teeth and get some training done." Itachi's voice left no room for argument. Sakura mumbled and went to the bathroom in his room. She slammed the door and started to run the water to brush her teeth.

Itachi told Sakura what The Leader had told him, which made Sakura nearly swallow her toothbrush.

"Guess you will get to experience the Uchiha Eye after all." Itachi smirked at the loud crash in the bathroom. Sakura came stumbling out, holding her head.

"Wha…?" She looked horrified.

"Well, its either that or…" Itachi trailed, making Sakura pale and rush back into the bathroom to finish cleaning up.

"When do we have to…" She spoke timidly over the running water.

"Tonight. Go and train for a while, punch some of the other Akatsuki members around a bit. I am going to sleep a while. At ten, come back here." Itachi stripped of his robe and sandals, and then his shirt. He re-arranged the bed and slipped in the covers.

Sakura came out of the bathroom and noticed the half naked (in her opinion) man looking at her seductively (in her opinion) in the small bed that she was going to be forced to sleep in later. (among other things). She blushed and rushed out of the room, mumbling something along the lines of, 'sleep well.'

She took Itachi's advice about kicking the crap out of the other Akatsuki, it made her feel much better. Although now all the men thought she was either pregnant or about to become pregnant and that had to mess with hormones and make her even more crazy and unpredictable and therefore tried to stay FAR away from her. That ruined her sport a bit, but before she realized it, ten o'clock had rolled around.

She gulped and took a deep breath before walking slowly down the hall to her new bedroom. Her hand paused before turning the knob, but she somehow found the will to open the door.

Itachi was sitting up, still shirtless, reading a book. Sakura tried not to stare at his well defined torso as she went into the bathroom to shower. The hot water felt wonderful on her sore muscles. Reluctantly, she turned the water off and got out of the safe shower. She changed into a pair of cotton shorts and a oversized tee shirt that Naruto had won for her at a festival. It had the name and logo of his favorite ramen shop on it.

She walked over to the bed and looked at Itachi questioningly. She was not going to be the one to make the first move here. Itachi sensed her apprehension, and moved over to allow her to climb into the bed. Once she was under the covers, Itachi put his book down on a night stand next to the bed, and turned to look at Sakura.

"I am not going to hurt you, you know?" Itachi laughed slightly at the terrified looking woman.

"I kinda wish you were going too, I would know what to expect." She mumbled, not looking at him.

"All you need to do is relax, Sakura." His voice was soothing. He pulled her over towards him and moved to straddle her waist. Sakura's eyes grew wide at the position, but Itachi just smirked.

"I am going to need to look at you, this is a sharingan jutsu remember?" He clarified. Sakura nodded and forced herself to relax and not look at how amazing his body was.

"What am I supposed to do?" She asked with a small voice.

"Hold on." He said simply. The black commas in his eyes started spinning, and Sakura started to feel very warm. Soon a ball of heat started to rise in her core, making her squirm. It traveled lower, and lower until Sakura screamed. Her body convulsed in pleasure so powerful she nearly ripped the headboard off of the bed. Itachi allowed her to continue her screams and moans for nearly ten minutes before he released her from his spell. Sakura was covered in a sweaty sheen and wore a full body blush.

"That was… insane." She whispered. She tried to slow her heart down as Itachi watched her carefully on the other side of the bed. Suddenly, he reached out and started to run his hand over her hair. The soothing motion made Sakura relax enough to control her breathing. She was exhausted, and she could tell that Itachi was suffering the after effects of using the Sharingan. She sat and brought her hands up to his face, allowing soothing chakra to rush into his head, calming his migraine. Itachi unconsciously moved towards her during the healing, grateful for what she was doing.

When Itachi's migraine was gone, Sakura laid back down and fell asleep right away. Itachi followed example, turning out the light before his eyes closed in sleep.

* * *

A/N: There is the jutsu! Sorry I haven't been writing longer chapters, I cant sit in my chair for very long because my back is causing me blinding pain and I am too stubborn to take a break. I have a new mystery man in my story, he will be very important later. Please read and review!! Thank you to all my lovely wonderful reviewers!!


	8. The Curtain Rises

Disclaimer: Read the other disclaimers

Chapter 8

Sakura scowled at the lewd gestures an d faces the Akatsuki were made. She had woken up confused, she was not in her bed and she had a terrible headache. She walked down the hall and out of the bunker quickly, she was on a mission that was, thankfully, far away from the perverted criminals. This gave her the perfect opportunity to set her plans in motion. Itachi had an idea that Sakura was going to commence her plan within a day or two, and reminded her of her time restraints often.

Sakura rushed through the trees as fast as she could in the opposite direction of the place she had been assigned to go. She felt the small book that Sasuke had given her, in her pocket. She had spent the entire week memorizing the amazingly difficult jutsu, but if there was one thing that Sakura Haruno was good at, it was study.

Itachi felt her get closer to the cave, he had been waiting for her all morning. He reached his senses out toward Sound and felt distinct chakra presences coming as well. Itachi smirked and activated his sharingan, using the jutsu to see a powerful chakra coming from the Akatsuki bunker as well.

Just like dominos falling into place, he looked towards the direction of Leaf and saw three more chakra presences coming as well.

"Hows the party turning out?" A voice behind him sounded confident.

"Took you long enough." Itachi chided. Sakura rolled her eyes and stood in front of the entrance of the cave.

"Wish me luck." She whispered and began to make rapid hand signs. She focused her chakra forward, centering it.

"You have one chance at this." Itachi reminded, and moved back.

"I had a feeling you would betray me, Itachi." The Leader stood in the clearing, his expression was positively murderous. Black chakra rolled around The Leader, cracking in the air. He looked over to the cave, where his prized possession was kept, and saw Sakura. He snarled and rushed forward.

Itachi caught him by the neck, but just barely. He threw The Leader forward, trying to give the woman time to complete the jutsu. The Leader rushed forward faster than Itachi's sharingan could followed and hit him in the chest with a powerful burst of chakra. Itachi coughed and fell to the ground. He looked over at Sakura and noticed something wasn't right.

Sakura felt the world spinning, she felt herself go down, her eyes roll back into her head. The flow of chakra was overwhelming her, she hadn't anticipated this part of the jutsu.

"You were trying to kill them, weren't you?" The Leader's cold voice sounded about her. She felt hands go around her neck.

She couldn't breathe, couldn't think. The chakra was killing her, the hands were killing her. The world kept spinning, kept making her fall. She saw a light, it was beautiful. Voices behind her told her to stay away, to push the chakra forward. She was so confused, should she go 

to the comfortable light, or try and push the chakra forward? Voices sounded all around her, so many of them, telling her to push forward. To end it all.

Sakura Haruno made a decision.

Itachi tried to move, tried to go to Sakura, to save her but he couldn't move. The Leader had paralyzed him with the powerful blow. He saw The Leader strangle her, he saw her go limp in his grasp.

It was all his fault, everything. He should have never involved Sakura in the final plans, she was a medic, not a prodigy. He should have realized that it was all too much for her to handle, that she could never have the strength to complete that jutsu. The others would come too late to save her, it would be a blood bath.

Itachi closed his eyes, resigning himself to defeat. A white light was visible through his eyelids. He opened his eyes.

Sakura forced the chakra forward, into The Leader. Without seals to contain them, the eight tailed demons sealed in the statue in the cave, were forced into The Leader's body. The demons, awake and angry, started to destroy the fabled God, from the inside out. He dropped Sakura and fell to the ground, screaming in agony.

"What is all this?" Orochimaru's voice called from outside the cave. He saw The Leader on the ground, as well as the medic and Itachi Uchiha.

"A coup de tat." A voice behind him responded. A blade was forced through Orochimaru's back and through his stomach. The Snake turned and fell back, trying to see his assailant.

Sakura opened her eyes to see Orochimaru fall to the ground with a blade through his torso. Standing behind him was Sasuke. Sasuke had a triumphant look on his face. She blinked through the confusion; she didn't know what was going on.

Itachi smirked as he watched his brother waste the last enemy of Leaf. The mission was finally over, all of it.

Kakashi, Naruto, and Jiraya burst into the clearing just in time to see Orochimaru and The Leader of the Akatsuki take their last breaths. Naruto looked confused, Kakashi looked worried, but Jiraya looked thrilled.

"What the hell?" Naruto gasped as he saw Sakura lying next to the dead leader. He rushed over to her side, glancing over at Sasuke with a look of confusion. Kakashi made his way over to where Sasuke and the body of Orochimaru was. Jiraya went straight to Itachi.

Sakura was smothered by Naruto's hug. She laughed and patted his back weakly, assuring him that she was okay.

"What the hell were you thinking, joining Akatsuki?!" Naruto scolded.

"I wanted to make a difference this time Naruto, I saw an opportunity and I took it." She explained tiredly.

"Well next time you want to go and save the world, let me help you!" He hugged her again and helped her to her feet.

"Where is Itachi?" Sakura's voice showed concern that Naruto had not expected.

"Over with pervy sage, why?" Naruto looked at her skeptically.

"Please help me over to him?" Sakura pleaded with her big green eyes that Naruto could never resist.

"Nice work Uchiha." Jiraya congratulated. Itachi rolled his eyes, and accepted the hand that was offering to help him up.

"It was all the girl's doing." Itachi watched the woman in question walk over to them, supported by a very agitated Naruto.

"It worked." Sakura said simply, but looked over to where Sasuke and Kakashi were standing. "I don't understand what happened with Sasuke though." She looked at Itachi for answers.

"Not now, not here." He whispered.

"I didn't understand at first, but I think I get it now." Kakashi looked at the now grown ninja in front of him.

"Good, then I wont have to explain it to you." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"What I do want to know is, how long?" Kakashi shifted his weight.

"The night I left Leaf."

"What now?" Naruto asked, breaking the tense silence.

"We destroy the bodies, and then all return to Leaf." Jiraya explained.

"Even him?"Naruto asked incredulously, looking over at Itachi.

"Yes Naruto, even him." Jiraya rolled his eyes. "Now give me a hand."

Naruto set Sakura down to sit on the ground and rushed to help destroy The Leader's body. Sasuke and Kakashi had begun to do the same to Orochimaru.

"It can't be this easy." Sakura looked over at Itachi.

"It isn't, there were be more enemies than ever. Someone will rise up and take over Akatsuki, and of course there will be a new Kage of Sound to deal with." Itachi let himself fall back to the Earth next to his partner.

"So what have we accomplished, after all?" Sakura sounded disappointed.

"We have made progress. Two of our most dangerous enemies are defeated. The rest will be explained when we get back to Leaf."

The trip back to Leaf was slow and tense. Itachi and Sakura, being injured, needed to be supported. Kakashi helped Itachi, taking the opportunity to have a chat with him so the other couldn't hear. Naruto helped Sakura, not letting anyone else have that job. He thought he had lost his friend, and he wanted to keep her close to him as possible.

They arrived at the village around midnight, careful to avoid anyone who would notice the two outlaw Uchihas. They made their way to Hokage tower where Tsunade was waiting for them. She ushered them into the room and had them sit.

"Its been a long time, Itachi." Tsunade began.

"My mission is complete." He responded. Naruto and Sakura looked over at him questioningly.

"Sasuke, you have done well." Tsunade smiled at the younger Uchiha. He just nodded and ignored the stares from his team mates.

"I believe you three need a full explanation." Tsunade sighed, addressing Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura.

"The Uchiha clan had planned to take over Leaf with the help of Mandara Uchiha. The takeover would have cost the lives of hundreds, and would have destroyed the Leaf village forever. They were consumed with the greed Mandara had installed. Itachi was different though, he saw the takeover for what it was; a bad idea. So he went to the Third Hokage and told him everything. The Third consulted with the council members as well as the Heads of the ninja clans. During this time, Itachi was asked to join a new terrorist group. Among the members were the worst S-Class criminals around, including Orochimaru. Itachi was asked to kill his clan and join the Akatsuki. He completed his mission.

But, he couldn't kill his beloved brother. He wanted Sasuke to be strong enough to survive, being that he was the weakest member of the clan, so he made Sasuke hate him.

For years, Itachi kept in close contact with Jiraya, using him as a midway to the Hokage. The night that Sasuke left the village, I sent Jiraya after him to tell him the truth and to give him a new mission. Sasuke accepted the mission and now we had a spy in both the Akatsuki and Orochimaru's operation."

"But what does Sakura have to do with all this?" Naruto asked.

"I found her in Lightning country and decided that she could be the one to end it all." Itachi explained. "The Leader was watching me too carefully, but I figured that a woman with pink hair would not be as threatening to him and therefore could get under his operation."

"But how did you get Orochimaru to the cave?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"I told him that I had made you fall in love with me. I made him believe that I convinced you to betray the Akatsuki and give him the power of the tailed demons. It takes an Akatsuki to break the genjutsu around the cave, and since he had defected, his ability to get past the genjutsu was obsolete." Sasuke explained.

"How did you know when it was all going down?" Naruto asked.

"Itachi told me." Sasuke answered. He looked over at his older brother, and gave him a small smirk.

"You were meeting him?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"For years now." Itachi answered. "We have come to accept our pasts and realize that the future is more important."

"Well then, I have a lot of work to do. Itachi and Sasuke have to be reinstated, and I have to come up with something to tell everyone about why that is. I sugest all of you get some sleep and start your training again in the morning. We have many enemies left in this world, worst of which is Mandara. We need to be prepared." Tsunade dismissed them all.

Naruto invited Sasuke to stay with him until his citizenship was sorted, thrilled to have Sasuke back. Kakashi and Jiraya disappeared almost immediately after the meeting, to who knows where. Sakura walked down the empty street, Itachi at her side.

"You can stay with me if you want, I have an extra room." Sakura offered with a smile.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I would be grateful." Itachi answered politely.

Sakura smiled and led him down another street and to a small house on the corner. She lifted the welcome mat and produced a key to open the door. She turned on the lights to reveal a small but cozy two bedroom house.

"Sorry about the dust, my maid is on vacation." She smirked. Sakura led him to a room at the end of the hall. "This is your room, the bath room is right here." She pointed to her left. "And this is my room." She pointed to the right. "Please make yourself comfortable. I might have some ramen if you're hungry." She offered.

"No thank you, I believe I will just head off to bed. Goodnight Sakura." He bowed slightly and disappeared into the room.

Sakura sighed and went into the kitchen for some tea. Today had been long, tiring, painful, and confusing and she was glad to see it end. She couldn't believe all that Itachi and Sasuke had been put through for the sake of preserving the lives of the people of this village. She 

couldn't believe that her plan had worked and that the Leader and Orochimaru were dead, but she kept in mind that there were still threats out there, horrible people who would stop at nothing to destroy the Leaf village. She had to be ready, they all had to be ready.

* * *

A/N: OKAY! Sorry it took so long, I am in N/C for two weeks and the internet connection here is DIAL UP!! So when I can get things uploaded it is a miracle! Please read and review and thank you to all those who have been reviewing all along!


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